Software for DIY off-road navigation

Setting Waypoints

A main component of off-road navigation is calculating a route. To create one you need two or more waypoints. You can add a waypoint to the map by clicking the Waypoints tab (Figure 2) in the toolbox and then New Waypoint (or press F5). Then, click the map to create the point. Alternatively, you can click the Waypoint menu and the entry New Waypoint .

Figure 2: Select the Waypoints tab settings to create a new track point.

After creating the point a dialog opens (Figure 3) that already has the coordinates. All that's missing is a descriptive name, the symbol used on the map, and the option of making the waypoint permanent.

Figure 3: The waypoint dialog allows setting a permanent point. The coordinates are already indicated, with just a few more values to enter.

Set all the relevant waypoints before beginning your trip. Then, save the geodata in QLandkarteGT format by clicking the File menu and Save Geo Data . Be sure to select the QLB (QLandkarteGT Binary format) or else the application uses the GPX conversion format.

QLandkarteGT doesn't save the map itself, but rather the geodata contained therein – that is, waypoints, tracks, and routes. QLandkarteGT gets the map itself off the Internet from the OpenStreetMap streaming server. I'll cover creating a map on the USB storage media a bit later in this article.

Calculating Routes

Once you've entered the waypoints, you create a route from them. Note that QLandkarteGT creates a route according to the default from the open route server. For now, this calculates routes in Europe only – rather limiting for off-roaders seeking exotic corners of the world.

Destinations outside Europe therefore require an alternate route planner. MapQuest is one that is available for QLandkarteGT. The actual planning can then take place easily on the maps from OpenStreetMap or Google.

Figure 4 shows a route calculated from the OSM streaming map on the stored vector map of a Garmin device. Calculating routes on the home PC is extremely important for off-road use, because you rarely have Internet access on your netbook while on the road.

Figure 4: Although Open Route Service can only calculate routes for Europe, MapQuest can calculate routes for the whole world.

You create the route in three steps. First, mark all the waypoints that you want to evaluate with check marks. Second, right-click the waypoints and select Create Route from the context menu..The software then creates a direct route (straight line) between each waypoint. The program shows the selected points, and you can remove incorrect ones and give the route a name.

What's important is the direction of the waypoints. The software processes them from top to bottom; therefore, the starting point is the furthest up and the endpoint is the furthest down (Figure 5).

Figure 5: Use the horizontal arrows to remove waypoints from the route and use the vertical arrows to move the waypoints up and down to change the direction of the route.

The third step is to use the routing server (on the Routes tab) to find the exact place on the map for the route. Do this by marking the polygon-shaped route and, with a right-click, choose Calculate Route from the context menu.

As a result, the software shows an icon on the route to indicate that it's being processed, then it loads the calculated route from the server. On the map, you'll see the route superimposed on the road, with the specified direction indicated (Figure 6).

Figure 6: The finished route is matched to the paths and shows its direction.

You need to use a robust netbook without any movable components, such as DVD players or hard drives, for the actual off-road trip – the netbook performance will end up being correspondingly slow. The installation is somewhat more complicated than that on the home PC.